Loan Round Up: Boateng And Gray Face Off

9 May 2016

Two Palace players went head-to-head on Saturday as Plymouth Argyle warmed up for their League Two play-off semi-final against Portsmouth later this week by rounding off their league campaign with a convincing 5-0 hammering of Hartlepool United.

Hiram Boateng played 78 minutes of the game at Home Park, with Jake Gray coming on for the Pools at half-time with his side already trailing by two goals from Tyler Harvey.

Gray missed a good chance to get the visitors back into the game, but his 37th and final appearance for the club would see three further goals for the Pilgrims with Louis Rooney also bagging a brace and Curtis Nelson getting on the scoresheet as Plymouth ran riot.

The win proved to be a big one for them as they leapfrogged Pompey to finish in fourth position and gain a slight advantage by having the second leg on home turf. Boateng’s side will now travel to Fratton Park for the first leg on Thursday before the second leg on Sunday.

The other two play-off spots were filled by Accrington Stanley, who slipped out of the automatic promotion places on the final day, and AFC Wimbledon.

Meanwhile Hartlepool finished the campaign in 16th position in the table, finishing 17 points clear of the relegation places which they had been flirting with only a few months earlier.